Invertalon

6M3C4759.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr

The D800 noise levels are actually higher then the 5D Mark III... Plus the 5D III also shoots up to 25,600 native ISO where the D800 only goes up to 6400 natively. According to Dpreview which has tested both cameras, side by side: "The 5D Mark III's raw noise levels are, compared to its predecessor 5D Mark II, and its most direct rival, the Nikon D800, lower across the ISO range." You can compare the cameras noise levels here: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canon-eos-5d-mark-iii/18 The D800 looks excellent for those who shoot Nikon. But to switch from Canon to Nikon or Nikon to Canon is just silly. The D800 has the better dynamic range and resolution, but the 5D III excels with a better AF system (more cross-type points with wider spread), FPS, buffer, LCD, video noise and a few other features. Just depends what you like though. Both are amazing cameras. I simply hate Nikon ergonomics and how they feel in the hand, while Canon's just feel perfect to me. Big deal when you use it for hours on end.

We can only hope! ^ Steel is getting played out a bit at the Point... GCI would be amazingly awesome there.

Thanks! Yeah, Fastlane will be great for those who really want to enjoy the park without waiting in lines all day, especially when busy. I would not think twice about doing this at other parks if I was going only one or two days.

Cedar Fair Platinum Pass (Geauga Lake) 2-Year Sea World Aquatica Pass Universal Orlando Pass Preferred

Why would that be a surprise though? Once the ride is built the ride is adjusted to hit design perimeters. If the ride is going too fast, that is why they reduced the speed of the lift, added trims, changed wheel compounds, etc... Just normal when they run rides for the first times. Then its tweak time to hit target speeds and whatever else they have in mind.

No that's the only way tiltshift will work! Actually, that is incorrect. Tilt-shift lenses for the actual intended purpose are to enable large amounts of focus depth (depth of field) using large apertures. For example, being able to "tilt" the focal plane of the lens when photographing a pasture for example at f/2.8, allowing the entire field to be in focus. If you used a normal lens at the same focal length that was not-tilt shift, the focus plane would be parallel to the sensor and be shallow requiring you to stop the lens down to get a much larger depth of field. Tilt shift is also heavily in architectural photos to eliminate distortion, to stop converging lines when they should be straight. Tilt shift lenses main purpose is NOT to make everything look like a small model. That is just a fad people have got into, which they 99% of the time try to recreate in photoshop (poorly I might add). Tilt shift lenses can NOT be recreated in software. Simply due to how the optics work. Tilt-shift lenses are very "niche" type lenses, without people only buying them if they really require them. But are very cool optics, I must add... I actually want to rent one in the future to try out. Many people do not understand real tilt-shift lenses... Only what they see done poorly in photoshop using filters. Not saying it looks bad or anything, but that is not the use of tilt shift lenses when used correctly. Tilt shift lenses are extremely expensive as well, generally only manual focus even when used with high end DSLR bodies. The 17mm Canon tilt-shift lens for example, costs around $2300... Not cheap for the limited use of them. Here is a cool article review of the Canon 17mm tilt-shift. If you scroll down you will see a few examples of how the tilt-shift effects a single image. I know for those who are not really into photography may have a hard time understanding this, but it is worth a shot! http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-TS-E-17mm-f-4-L-Tilt-Shift-Lens-Review.aspx This link has a little better visual examples possibly: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/focusing-ts.shtml Hope this helps answer your question Gigalyte! They are a little difficult to explain, but basically in a nutshell they are highly specialized lenses that enable large amounts of the image to be in focus without requiring settings that generally would be required to get the same (or simple impossible using normal optics), as well as avoiding any distortion. Tilt-shift can only be done with SLR's, as all point-and-shoot cameras do it via software and "blurring methods" to make it look like one. But there is no way one can recreate real tilt-shift effects.

How were the crowds in the afternoon/evening? Did it get busier? Was pretty light all morning and early afternoon. MF extended down the ramp around a turnstile or two when we left, around a fifteen minute wait I would guesstimate. Although when we did leave, there were quite a few buses unloading...

Hard to avoid Cedar Point without their flying friends... Either you have muffleheads or mayflies, generally in early to mid summer I believe. They always seem to be around, sometimes worse then others. Somebody else may be able to better help you on specifics though on the worst times. Cedar Point isn't Cedar Point without the flying bugs all over the place. Oh, and the sea gulls everywhere. Don't forget the endless amounts of spiders either at dusk/night, when they seem to come out by the millions and web everywhere. You will always see employees brooming railings and stuff all day due to this. I can't count how many times I have spiders hanging from my head at that place.

Yeah, we enjoy the petting zoo. Especially once the goats and stuff come out! They also have escapee chickens all the time which roam the main midway in the area. Quite funny to see. Muffle heads: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chironomidae They literally invade all of CP a few weeks of the year. Just keep your mouth closed when ride stuff...

Stopped by the park for the first time of the season... Arrived for early entry and went right to MF. There was some ACE event this morning, so the ride had been running since 7am or so. One of the best rides I have ever had on this ride, seriously! Rode in 1-2 (my 'money seat' due to front row visuals with no wait time). Extremely smooth and I had more airtime this ride then I can ever remember. Moved MF back up to towards my top steel coasters again. Wish we just stayed on this during all of early entry... After we decided to run over to Maverick which turned out to be a big mistake. After a short few minute wait hopped on... At the bottom of the first hill I knew it was going to be a bad one. Ride was running like it does at the end of the season, rough and full of vibrations. Generally this early in the season it is running quite good. At the launch tunnel somebody lost an item (some type of clothing) that hit me straight in both of my eyes at the end of the launch. Was completely blinded the whole second half as my eyes were in extreme pain. Worst ride ever, and not just because of the whole item hitting me in the eyes, but how poor it was running as well. Maverick when running good is amazing... When it runs poorly, it sucks... Oh well. I can go without it the rest of the year. Decided to head over to Dragster before the park opened.. Generally able to get in a decent position prior to opening so the wait is not too long. Sadly, all the ACER's and it seems like every other platinum early entry participant had the same idea. Station was already filled up and the line stretched down the midway. Skipped it and walked right on front row of Magnum. Running decently, nothing special though. More-so rode it for the views of the waterpark to see how it looked. I must say I am very impressed. Crazy what some paint can do! Look forward to the mat racers, we love the Aquatica version and other one we rode at the Columbus Zoo waterpark. After that we headed over to Raptor to check the line since the park just opened, but it was already pretty long (probably only 15mins or so, but we are spoiled... Too long for us!). So we ran out to the car, got the camera and made a loop around the park. Left at around noon or so. Crowds were quite light... A few buses had showed up but the parking lot was not full at all. Park looked great though, love that the big screen is gone along with Wildcat. That midway looks fantastic and I can not wait to see the new show. An amazing day for anybody who wanted to do some hardcore riding as crowds were so light... But as sad as it is, we have really "over-visited" the park the past few years so are quite bored with the place. Really hoping for some good wood in the future (unlikely, I know) but we shall see. Going to return in a few weeks for the waterpark for the first time. Oh, and I must say the Dinosaurs Alive entrance area looks fantastic. Here are a few photos from the day... For more, higher resolution images go to my Flickr Page! The new paint on Blue Streak looked really nice! Millennium Force also looked great... I just wish they could of finished the last part of the painting of the second hill. This midway should look fantastic when complete. Plenty of work going on with the stages. Great view without the big screen. Running so good yesterday! As you can see, muffle heads recently at the point. First drop Twelve years later MF is still the best ride in the park... In my opinion, of course. Polish hen at the petting zoo... Awesome hair. Moo This turkey is gangster... Hated everyone. Still have those terrible sweeper uniforms! Ugh Ride is over, thankfully... I thought this area looked great. Fastline signage all over the park. I don't think anybody needed it today, however. Can't wait! Magnum to me is just awkward. I like it at night, but otherwise it is more like an over-grown mine-ride for more. More painful though! Plenty of air, but too bad its painful. Walkon today. Short wait for WT as well. Some of the mechanical bits of windseeker. These guys were scattered all over the park in little display areas. Looked great. Time to head out... Was a good few hours. Be back in a few weeks.

A few from the airport today. 6M3C3966.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C4054.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C4089.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C4070.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C3995.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C4029.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C4081.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr

While the iPhone is a great beginner camera, its uses are very limited. The newest iPhones have good image quality in the best lighting conditions but beyond that, get really bad, fast. Unless of course, you are just shooting for facebook and stuff then it won't matter (small jpegs). They are good replacements for carrying a point and shoot around though. A SLR will offer much more uses including autofocus speeds, frames per second shooting, low light performance, ability to use many different types of lenses from ultra wide to telephoto, depth of field control, servo tracking, ergonomics and of course image quality. And no, I am not talking about "megapixels", which is JUST a marketing term for cameras. For example, a 30 megapixel "iPhone" sensor will never look nearly as good as a 12 megapixel full-frame SLR sensor. No way, no how. The microcontrast, detail and high ISO images will look so much better. The quality of those pixels will always dominate over the quantity of them. You can get into an SLR setup with as little as $400 or 500 with a kit lens. I started with a Rebel XSI years ago and upgraded and evolved from that as I learned. Went to the T1i, then the 7D, 5D "classic" and 5D Mark II. Currently I am using a 5D Mark III. My dream camera spec wise. I love it, but it comes at a very steep price. You can basically get a starter SLR kit for the price as more advanced point and shoots, I highly recommend going right to the SLR. You can upgrade/evolve with a body for years. The iPhone camera is good if you just point and shoot... If you have a desire to do more then that, you need to get something better. In a nutshell, the iPhone can't compete even with the cheapest of SLR's today. People who are "iPhone shooters" may get bitter about that comment, but I have first hand experience with both and there really is no comparison. The iPhone is a great "on the fly" camera phone, though.

Why do you think you need a UV filter? Unless you plan on shooting in terrible conditions and want it for the ease of cleaning they are completely worthless by all means. The whole "UV Filter" thing is nothing but a trait that came over to digital cameras from film, in which IV rays *could* cause damage to the film. However, the digital imaging sensors today already have protection against UV and are completely unaffected by them. They do nothing to the 'look' of the image either. I used to use them for ease of cleaning but I sold them all about a year ago. I figured, I spend $2000 on a lens, why am I putting a $100 piece of glass in front of it? I do know some lenses require one for full weather sealing, though. This is why I kept one for my 24-105L in case I needed to use it in poorer conditions. Now circular polarizing filters are useful (they did reduce reflection, glare, make skies look nicer, etc...) and ND filters for reducing the light through the lens, but as far as UV or clear filters, I wouldn't waste my money on them anymore! I found the ND filter I wanted and picked it up... Should have it next week. Here is a link to it if your interested. It is a 4-stop Hoya multi-coated filter. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003YCFEXE/ref=ox_ya_os_product Not a bad price at $57. I used some points I had and got it for like $28. Should be useful to me this summer since I plan to do a bit more video shooting and the key is reducing the shutter to 1/50 or 1/60 for the video. Along with my CPL filter, if I stack them I will be able to reduce light by a little over 5-stops all together. Should be plenty!

Matt L. is a great guy. He was our supervisor at Geauga Lake back in 2005/2006 sometime. Ran into him again last year at the main gate during The Haunt. He was a great supervisor for us and appears to be that and then some now at Kings Island. He helped us get into Kings Island because our Geauga Lake passes fail to scan anywhere but our park and CP. Going to CW was a hassle because they have no idea what GL is, and even though it denied us they just let us in anyway. Was not worth the hassle during the insane crowds for the haunt to figure out why our passes did not work. Nice shots Real... I plan to do a little more panning this year at the parks. I need to pick up a 4-stop ND filter though, especially to get the nice slower shutter speeds in bright daylight without stopping down to f/16 or smaller (and diffraction softening the image). You reminded me to get on that... Thanks... haha Hope the weather is good for you at CP opening weekend. I will be out of town this weekend, but hope to get there the weekend after. Anytime I seem to lug the camera to CP I get white crappy skies loaded with dirty atmosphere... Blah. I hope to get a few more nicer clear days this year!

disregard... accidentally deleted photo from flickr so this post is worthless!

Do people actually still care what park has the most coasters? I mean, really... lol

It also may be possibly the brake run is so high due to the heat generated by the wheels. I know people may say MF is just as long without the brake run, but the trains are also not nearly as heavy I would assume (load per wheel). Does anybody know the weight per car section of an Intamin train versus a B&M one? By ending the ride up high, it gives time for the wheels to cool down a bit while not at a stopped position (avoiding flat spots if the compound is soft), so by having a brake run that constantly moves the train for 30-45 seconds or so, it allows time for the wheel to cool without developing these flat spots. Keep in mind, these "flat spots" can be so small you would never be able to see them. But once these wheels have them, there is now a stress riser that will fail the wheel prematurely. Causing a rough ride and increased maintenance costs. I am not aware of the melting point of these compounds (they could extremely high), and this theory may be completely B.S... But I know rides in the past have had wheel issues with heat, so that is my guess on why the brake run is the way it is. If it would end at a normal height and move to the next block and sit and wait due to the overall shorter time of that block section, they may cause issues to occur. This ride has quite a high average speed along the course, I would assume very similar to MF. But so many other factors come into play then just length and average speed. Load, forces along course, rail material/coatings, etc... Either way and whatever the reason, it don't bother me one bit (brakerun).

That is too funny how he always chills out like that. He looks so relaxed and comfortable! Yeah I was surprised as well to see the Koala out and about. Right after I took a dozen shots of him or so, he went down the tree and kind of hid... I am guessing to sleep some more.

Not a surprise in the least! I liked the ride but maybe rode it once per year. It was also an eye-sore to say the least. That area of the park will look amazing this year without it and the big screen.

Nice panning shots ^ They are difficult to do well as slow shutter speeds. I stopped the Zoo Monday for about an hour and half. Was really dead and nice to walk around nearly alone without anybody in the way. 6M3C3419.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C3453.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C3506.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C3446.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C3426.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C3521.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C3438.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr 6M3C3507.jpg by invertalon, on Flickr

Geauga Lake - ATL Steel Venom and X-Flight the year before (06/05?). Had some great times there. X-Flight was a blast to work, loved it. By far the best ride to work in the park. I also worked at many of the other rides (of course) including BKF, Thunderchicken and Dipper. Plus a handful of flats. Monorail was epic. Don't miss the terrible pay though... That is one reason I highly doubt I will ever work at a park again unless I am really desperate. Way underpaid for the long hours/drama. But you meet some great people though and I still run into them from time to time at random places. If I were to go back to work at a park, I would prefer to go in ride maintenance. That may be due to me being a senior MCE student, but regardless!

Here is a link to it... I had the name of it wrong.. Optech, not protech. Close enough! http://www.amazon.com/OP-TECH-USA-1501012-binoculars/dp/B00092KD9C Super comfortable... It really does make the weight feel much less with heavier lenses. I don't even open the straps with cameras anymore, these are so good.

The 70-200 II takes TC's incredibly well. I see very little IQ loss with it even wide open. One of the big reasons I sold my 300mm f/4L IS when I bought it was because the IQ was near identical to the prime, even with a TC. The 300mm did have a killer MFD though. I have been toying with the idea of picking up a 2x TC to try out with it, buying it used for a good price and selling it for what I paid if I did not like the results. The 70-200 is a really great lens, I really enjoy it. I do think other lenses have just as good of resolving power though, like the 135L which IMO, is neck and neck with it. With the added benefit of allowing f/2 also which I like. But the zoom does have 4-stop IS which is great. But it is much heavier, which does not bother me that much though in the end. The protech straps do wonders for taking the load off compared to the standard Canon straps (suck).

I shot almost exclusively with my 70-200 f/2.8 II and 1.4x extender. Car parts? Who needs those!